With Red Card, Sevilla Hold AS Roma 0-0

JAKARTA – Sevilla drew 0-0 with AS Roma in a test match in Faro, Portugal, Sunday, August 1, early morning, western Indonesia time. Unfortunately, their pre-season match at the Algarve was marred by a lot of friction between players, especially in the second half.

The match between the two teams was actually quite interesting. Even some opportunities were created from both teams. But the party became chaotic after several Sevilla players were judged to play too aggressively, by Roma, in the friendly match.

The incident, which occurred in the 64th minute, made the Portuguese referee Nuno Almeida give their card to Sevillista Gudelj of Sevilla. Luckily the incident did not drag on and both teams could play normally again.

In this match, Julen Lopetegui adjusted Sevilla's more defensive scheme to ward off the aggressive formation of AS Roma coach, José Mourinho. The strategy proved to be quite effective until Roma, who were unbeaten during pre-season testing, failed to score.

In this match, the Roma manager, Jose Mourinho, fielded the majority of their core players such as Henrikh Mikhitaryan and Edin Dzeko up front. While Sevilla also came down with the best squad such as Ivan Rakitic and team captain Jesus Navas.

Sevilla, who will face their first match against Rayo Valecano in the Spanish League, on August 16 will feel quite satisfied with this match. At least they were able to withstand Jose Mourinho's team who are known to be fierce and unbeaten during their pre-season testing.

After this trial match, Roma is again scheduled for a friendly against Real Betis on Sunday, August 8.